


diamond in the rough

by keouil



Series: we can be divine [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Haruno Sakura-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:07:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26819290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keouil/pseuds/keouil
Summary: sakura isn't rin, but heals those she left behind all the same.
Relationships: Dai-nana-han | Team 7 & Haruno Sakura, Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi & Nohara Rin & Uchiha Obito
Series: we can be divine [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1931971
Kudos: 68





	diamond in the rough

**Author's Note:**

> rin, before / sakura, after.

rin was told that during her time kunoichi were rare, but mednins were rarer.

it is because of this, her seemingly very exclusive skillset, that she spends every day of her life like she could very well not the next day. 

more than a soldier of the village, she was a healer of the land. that meant she had double the responsibility and double the lives to account for. because as it would seem, in a war when there are only few and far between of people like her and growing smaller by the second, she would be the only one to mend broken bones and stitch open wounds when they came.

but as if this sole burden didn’t weigh on her enough, minato-sensei never fell short on reminding her what should happen if all of them went down and she had to be the last one standing to tell the tale.

and for all the wisdom her sensei has imparted with her, this is the one thing she refused to live by.

because she’ll be _damned_ if something happened to either of them and she had the one in a million chance of righting that wrong because even more than a soldier and a healer – she was a friend.

* * *

sakura was told that during her time she should be focused on finding a good man, kunoichi never lived long anyway.

it is because of this, the inherent prejudice that came with being born a girl, that she goes ahead and does exactly the opposite because she wants to move through life in her own terms. 

ninja academy wasn’t a place for girls with pink hair and green eyes, but when she looked around she spotted at least five boys with weird hair colours and even weirder eyes than her, so she stays to prove a point. 

she could tell her sensei didn’t know what to do with her and to save yet another man from his incompetence, she took it upon herself to lead her life once again. but tsunade was _merciless_ and that was saying something because kakashi-sensei made her do extra laps during _that time of the month_. 

she finds out much later that all those hot days training and cold nights suturing was because she was grooming her to be both a medic and kunoichi.

* * *

rin and sakura are two people born on different lifetimes but live for the same people.

* * *

still, haruno sakura is not nohara rin.

but when tsunade sets their team aside for a history lesson after a particularly long overseas mission that left kakashi bedridden for days, she begins to understand why.

and all at once everything becomes clearer. as if until that point she’s only seen everything through rose-tinted glasses and childhood crushes. this time, her role to play in this part of history is clear and she starts seeing the ghosts of her that’s always been with them.

she sees it every time kakashi leaves first to go to the memorial stone like always and her heart tugs. 

or when sasuke jolts awake from another nightmare at the dead of night and she slips him sleeping pills. 

and even when naruto yells for the nth time about being hokage and she cheers him on for the nth time without fail.

* * *

maybe she could very well be a placeholder or a reincarnation or _someone else entirely_ , but it matters none when she finally meets the last member of her sensei’s former team and he calls the wrong name but looks at her like it was right.

like she could be that person for all of them, someone who is a constant and will never waver and will always have extra chakra stored for only them, because lord only knows what kind of hardships will follow them through life from now on.

so she heals and trains and sutures, not because it’s what she’s good at, but because this is the life she chose for herself.

_(and if hearing she had the same smile or gentleness as someone else who lived a long time ago – that was on them. the ghosts haven't stopped.)_

* * *

sakura isn’t rin, but she doesn’t mind playing that part once in awhile if it meant the world she left behind could finally heal from her wake.


End file.
